Ontario Gets a YR Club At Last

by Jonathan Judge, Editor-in-Chief

With the help of the New York State Young Republicans and the Ontario County Republican Committee, Ontario County finally has a Young Republicans (YRs) chapter.

The Ontario YRs held its first membership happy hour on Thursday, July 19, 2007 at McGregor's Grill & Tap Room in Canandaigua, NY, with special guest Jay Dutcher, Chairman of the Ontario County Republican Committee.

Ellis M. Oster, Chairman of the Ontario County Young Republicans, said, “I’m very pleased with the interest already generated within the last month to start this YR chapter, and I look forward to adding more members over the next few months.”

The Ontario YRs will also host a membership table at the Ontario County Republican Committee’s Annual Picnic, being held on Saturday, August 18, 1:00pm to 5:00pm, at the John Brown Memorial Park in Clifton Springs, NY, which is expected to attract 750 to 1,000 people, making it an ideal location for attracting new YR members. The Ontario YRs chapter is expected to be fully credentialed by the New York State Young Republicans at its next statewide meeting in September.

Oster said that it is “essential” for Ontario County to have a YR chapter, for both the upcoming local elections and the 2008 election cycle. In fact, despite Ontario County having one and a half times more Republicans than Democrats, Oster pointed out that U.S. Rep. Randy Kuhl (R-NY) won Ontario County by only 702 votes, a margin of 2.4%.

“If we want to have Republicans control Congress again in 2009, we must work together to ensure that candidates like Congressman Kuhl get reelected next year, especially since various liberal organizations have already started airing attack ads against the Congressman,” continued Oster.

Membership to the Ontario YRs is only $15 per person, per year, and $25 per married couple, per year. Associate members, i.e., those who are not between 18 and 40 years old and/or do not live in Ontario County, may join the Ontario YRs at $10 per year.

Oster himself is hardly new to the world of politics. Prior to his current occupation as a lead attorney for RJS Abstract Corporation in Fairport, NY, he served as a summer law clerk at the Republican Governors Association and the Center for Individual Rights, both in Washington, D.C. While attending Cornell Law School, he founded the Cornell Law Republicans, a student chapter of the Republican National Lawyers Association. During his undergraduate studies at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., Oster was a research assistant in the Political Analysis Department at the Republican National Committee. His duties primarily focused around compiling and analyzing election results for the RNC and the White House. Before working at the RNC, he served as an intern for then U.S. Rep. Benjamin A. Gilman (R-NY).